Meadors surges to runoff in BOE race

Jeffrey Meadors and Dale M. Thompson will face each other in an Aug. 10 runoff for the Newton County Board of Education District 1 seat, while Shakila Henderson-Baker and James Johnson, Jr. will vie again for the District 3 seat on the board.

"I'm going to do everything I can to win it on Aug. 10," said Meadors. "I'm happy with the amount of votes I received and I'm going to continue to work hard."

Meadors received 49.4 percent (1,019) of the vote in District 1 and Thompson received 28.6 percent (590). The third candidate, Ron Hart, received 22 percent (454) of the votes. Since Meadors did not get at least 50 percent of the vote, there must be a run-off.

"I feel good," said Thompson. "If we can work with Ron Hart and come together, I've got a good chance at this. We see things similarly, have a similar base and can work together to come out on top."

Meadors and Thompson were candidates on the Republican ballot. The winner of the runoff will not face Democratic opposition in November.

In the District 3 race, a pair of Democrats are preparing for the Aug. 10 runoff. In a crowded primary field, Henderson-Baker received 36.1 percent of the vote (500) and Johnson received 19.7 percent (273) of the votes.

""It's good to be in a runoff," said Johnson. "Of course, I would have wanted to win outright but I'm going to make it happen in the runoff. We're going to continue to do what we did: knock on doors and continue to let people know who I am."

The winner of the Democratic runoff for District 3 will face Republican candidate Kevin Wade in the general election. Wade had no opposition Tuesday.

"I feel really great," said Henderson-Baker. "I did not want a run-off, but I am ready to get back out there. The most important thing is to get people back out to the polls. I am still standing on my platform as a highly-qualified parent."